First commercial Chinese rocket company in the works

China is set to establish a company that will specialize in commercial rocket launches, Hu Shengyun, chief model designer with the China Sanjiang Space Group, said on Tuesday.

Hu, also a NPC deputy, told Xinhua News Agency on March 15 that the company’s first commercial launch is planned for next year. Preparations have already begun, and some of China’s biggest Internet companies have expressed interest in a collaboration.

The company will use solid-fuel Kuaizhou rockets, which can send a 1-ton payload to an altitude of 700 kilometers. Prelaunch preparations take just a few hours. What’s more, the cost should be within US$10,000 per kilogram of payload, said Hu, recognizing the project for its “promising market prospects.”

China launched the first Kuaizhou rocket in 2013 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. That launch put an observation satellite into orbit around Earth. The second rocket, launched in 2014, carried a satellite to monitor natural disasters.